Roma!

Ciao Everyone!

I just got back from a stay in Munich for the long weekend and I thought now would be the best time as ever to write about my weekend in Rome two weekends ago! Going to Rome was my first experience with a fast train. I rode Italo Treno, and it was a great experience. I highly recommend it for anyone traveling between big cities in Italy. There was free wifi, comfortable seats and fantastic staff. They also have a sign that let's you know how fast the train is currently going. The fastest we got to was 300km/hr, which is around 200mph. 

I arrived in Rome at 10:40 Friday evening, and met my friend Maggie at the train station. She helped me and my CIMBA friends navigate the metro, to get me back to her apartment and my friends the hostel they were staying at. Also, big shout out to my friend Maggie for letting me stay in her apartment for the weekend. It was great to save some money on lodging. 

On the way to Maggie's apartment we decided to stop at the Trevi Fountain because we thought it wouldn't be as crowded at night. The Fontina di Trevi is one of my favorite things we did for three reasons. First, this was the first fountain I have seen in Europe that has been turned on. Second, it is huge. You could look at the fountain for hours. Third, although there was still a crowd so late in the evening, there is still something magical about this fountain. I threw in a coin and made a wish :)

We then made it back to Maggie's apartment for a relaxing evening with some of her friends. The next morning we were up and out the door to the Vatican! Unfortunately there was some sort of event at the Vatican and the line was crazy. I enjoyed looking at it and being in the atmosphere. It was the first area I have been to that has lots of nuns, priests, etc. walking around. It was gorgeous and the atmosphere was great (minus all the peddlers...). A note on the peddlers, Rome had the most people trying to get me to buy things. They would come up to me and Maggie and bother us, speaking in many different languages (mostly English because we look American, but sometimes Italian, French or Spanish!). Thankfully none of my stuff was stolen!

After viewing the Vatican we walked over a famous bridge toward Maggie's school and stopped for a cappuccino at the Maggie's regular cafe. She knows the owner, a sweet Italian man named Favio. He gave us cappuccinos with little hearts on top! It was so adorable and a great start to our day. I feel a bit guilty, but we also stopped at Subway. It was the first American style sandwich I have had in a month. I also missed the sauces, like honey mustard and chipotle southwest. It was a delicious early lunch and we were off. 

We then saw Maggie's school and then were off to Piazza Navona. This square was wonderful. More fountains that were actually turned on! There were also many different talented artists trying to sell their oil paintings. Although they were trying to sell their craft, none of them were annoying peddlers. We then walked to the best gelato place in all of Italy, Della Palma. I highly recommend trying at least one of the 150 flavors of gelato there. My favorite is the peanut butter gelato (as peanut butter is a rarity in Europe). It seas fantastic. Also if you're not a peanut butter person they also have fantastic mango, banana, assorted candy bar flavors, and even a champagne flavored gelato!

After devouring our gelato we headed toward the Pantheon. The Pantheon used to be a place where the ancient Romans worshipped all gods. However, it was turned into a church in its later years. It is a fantastic building the pillars if stone are huge and inside it is so huge although there was a lot of people it never felt crowded. 

After being in awe of the Pantheon we headed to Maggie's favorite place in the city, the Cat Sanctuary. The Cat Sanctuary is a place where they spay/neuter, heal the sick or injured, feed, house, and give love to the wild cats of Rome. The Cat Sanctuary is in some ruins where you can see the cats jumping from ruin to ruin. You can also go play with the cats that are injured and healing. We played with all of the cats and they were all friendly and nice. Some of the injured cats were so sad. I saw cats with broken tails, missing eyes, broken backs, etc. The cat sanctuary was a great place for an escape of the city life of Rome. 

We then headed to the Ancient City. We saw the Piazza Venezia and Maggie explained to me the historical significance of the building surrounding the square called the heart of Rome. Mussolini had given famous speeches off of a balcony in this square and lived in an apartment there. There was a huge building called The Alter of the Fatherland. Apparently, it cost so much money to build they forced Italian women to give up their wedding rings. The women then would go to jewelers to make fake rings to give to the government. We visited on such a sunny day it was unbelievably huge and gorgeous with the marble in the sun. We then headed up to the Roman Forum. 

The Roman Forum was amazing. I looked at the stone and imagined the people who must have lived there. It is hard to believe that the history of this place goes so far back. Maggie explained to me that Rome is building another metro line, but because of all the ruins under the city, in construction they destroy the ancient city beneath the ground. I was saddened by this. For convenience the Romans are destroying the history of the city that made it what it is today. 

We then headed to the Colusseum. The Colusseum is very similar to the Arena in Verona. The Arena in Verona is more in tact and a little smaller though. I would highly recommend the Colusseum because it was fantastic to see where people used to congregate in ancient times. We also lucked out with fantastic weather. We had 70 degree and sunny weather the entire day. We stopped for a beer and snack outside and Maggie got a sunburn from the sun! 

After our little break we tried to head to a church with three different levels down each of a different era in Rome. However, the church was closed. We ended up going to a street with a lot of shops leading up to the Piazza del Popolo. I didn't buy anything but I had fun window shopping. Also when we got to Piazza del Popolo the view of the churches, street and people was great! We then went back to Maggie's apartment for a breather before dinner. 

Although we were in Rome, we did not have Italian food. We went to an all you can eat sushi place with some of Maggie's friends. It was nice to have sushi, a food I hadn't even seen since I left the states. It was also a good break from Italian food. The sushi was good and I ate to my hearts content! 

The next morning we went to a market near Maggie's apartment and I bought earrings and a bracelet. Then we had a quick lunch and I was off to the train station. 

Attempting to do Rome in a day is quite a feat and I do wish I had done more things. However, I had a fantastic time with one of my friends in a gorgeous city. Stay tuned for my blog about Munich and Salzburg coming later this week! 

Here are some photos of my time in Rome:

At the Trevi Fountain

The Vatican

Our heart cappuccinos!

Piazza Navona

Della Palma! They had 150 different gelato flavors. 

The Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon 

The Cat Sanctuary

Maggie was popular with the cats 

The Alter of the Fatherland

Roman Forum

Me at the Colusseum 

My favorite picture I took of the ruins

Piazza del Popolo

More a Piazza del Popolo

Ciao! 

Wine Tasting and Company Tours

Buongiorno!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! I thought I would write this mini-blog post about some of the activities that CIMBA has put on for us this week. For those who only like to read about my travels don't worry, my Slovenia blog post will be up soon! 

This past Monday CIMBA students participated in activity called Night Out With a Professor. This activity allowed students to choose an activity to do with a professor. The options were, pizza making, pasta making, wine tasting, a tex-mex dinner, and a three course Italian meal. I chose to do the wine tasting with my Cost Accounting professor, Professor Chope. About ten of us and our professor boarded a bus to a local winery on Monday evening and I felt like the moment I sat down we were there. Apparently the winery is only a few kilometers down the road from our school! The winery is called Dal Bello. 

We hopped off the bus and were greeted by a lovely Italian woman who showed us around the small winery. Unfortunately we were not allowed to see the barrels of wine fermenting (it is a sterile environment), but we got to see where they do the bottling and where they crush the grapes. Another cool thing about the winery is that the grapes they use are right outside! 

I learned that Italian wines have special classifications given by the EU to show that the grapes were grown in a quality place called the DOCG classification. The grapes grown for Prosecco in the neighboring town of Asolo were nominated for a DOCG classification five years ago. This means that they are of the highest quality grapes in Italy. The winery we went to uses these grapes to ferment the wine of the region, Prosecco. We got to try their best Prosecco wine after the tour was over. I really enjoyed this wine and the entire experience of being where it was made and where the grapes were grown. 

After trying the glass of Prosecco we headed across the street to the wine bar associated with the winery. At the wine bar we were served snacks and two more glasses of wine. The first glass was a rosé type wine, and the third glass was the only red the winery makes. I didn't like the rosé as much, but the red was delicious. Also the snacks were fantastic! We had these croutons that had been sauté with butter and some seasoning they served to us warm and it was so good. 

After that it was another short bus ride home and back to studying.

Here are some wine tour pictures!

The grapes being grown right outside!

The bottling area

Prosecco bottle

Me and my friend Jenni

Jenni at the wine bar

Me modeling with the rosé

Today all CIMBA students visited local companies for a tour. We were spilt up into six groups and went to six different companies. My group visited a company called Palladio Zannini. Palladio Zannini makes the cartons and leaflets for pharmaceutical products. I thought it was interesting to see something being produced that I normally take for granted.  Unfortunately the other groups got to see some more interesting companies and they even got gifts from the companies they visited! We were treated to snacks after the tour and everyone was very friendly so I cannot complain. 

Good news! I just got a box of chocolates in the mail from my parents (a late Valentine's Day gift). More good news is that I am going to Rome tomorrow to visit my friend Maggie! 

That's all for now.

Ciao,

Carolyn 

A Weekend in Slovenia

Ciao everyone!

I am currently on the fast train to Rome for my next weekend adventure. Since there is free wifi, I think this is the best opportunity to write about my trip to beautiful Slovenia last weekend!

My trip to Slovenia was kind of on a whim. A group was going and I basically told them to sign me up! I handed the money over and followed the group all the way to the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. One of the student life coordinators at CIMBA is from Slovenia and highly recommended visiting! Slovenia is a wonderful country that is truly a melting pot of culture. It has German, Italian and Slavic influence. I am glad I went because I normally wouldn't visit Slovenia, because I knew little to nothing about it before this trip.

We got in and checked into our hostel, Hostel Celica. The hostel used to be a prison and some of the rooms still have bars on the windows and doors. I didn't stay in an old cell, but I still enjoyed my stay. I was a little too tired to venture out that evening so I went to bed. 

The next morning we woke up and headed to a free tour we had heard about. The tour guide was a sweet little woman who was very passionate about Slovenia. She told us all about the history of the country dating back to the Slavic people who first lived here, to Slovenia in the Sochi 2014 Olympics. She also talked a lot about Plečnik, the Slovenian architect who had a huge influence on the city today. My favorite thing he designed is the triple bridge over the river. The story behind it is that there was a old bridge made of stone in the city center that was becoming a problem. There were cars, horse and buggy, and pedestrians trying to cross this bridge and it was becoming dangerous for pedestrians to use. Plečnik refused the task of redesigning the bridge because he did not want to ruin a historical bridge. However he did create a solution to make the crossing more safe for pedestrians. Plečnik added two side pedestrian bridges, hence the triple bridge. Except now only pedestrians are allowed in the city center, so the bridge is not used for its original purpose, but it is still beautiful. I also learned in the tour that the oldest wheel and oldest flute ever found was in Slovenia. 

One of the best parts of Ljubljana on a Saturday morning is the market. They sell everything! From clothes, to food grown locally, to touristy things. I loved looking at all the shops and people. After the tour we ate then headed to the bus station to go to Lake Bled.

Lake Bled is a lake an hour bus ride away from the city in the middle of the mountains. This area is also famous for a cake called the cream slice. We had cream slice and cappuccino while watching the USA v Russia hockey game. It was a great experience. Another exciting Olympic development that weekend was Slovenia won their first Olympic hockey game! It was fun to be in the country during this time of pride. Slovenia has also been doing well during the Olympics so all of the people were very excited. 

Back to Lake Bled, the views were breathtaking, but unfortunately the trails were not in use. There was a huge snow storm in Slovenia the weekend before we got there. I heard the worst in 100 years, or 50 years, people were saying lots of things. It wiped out a huge percentage of the forest. Trees were down and the paths to the castle at the top of the cliff were closed. The amount of tree debris all around the country was depressing. I took lots of great pictures which I will post at the end of this blog. 

After Lake Bled we went to this restaurant called Das Ist Valter. It is a Balkan restaurant. I ordered something I couldn't understand on the menu and had the specially brewed Das Ist Valter beer. When the waitress came out with the food I had ended up ordering a huge plate of pork and beef sausages with these two huge pieces of break soaked in butter, or some sort of oil. It was extremely cheap, 7€ for everything and best of all it was so good. With a full belly I walked around Ljubljana at night until we got tired and went back. 

Ljubljana is the safest city I have been to yet! There were no bothersome peddlers who approach you constantly and very few creepy people. During the day it was mostly families during the day and other college students from the local university in the town at night. 

The next morning I woke up a little earlier than my friends to get to see the Tivoli gardens. I love visiting gardens and parks in other cities and countries. I think this is because I used to work for the parks department in my hometown. Also I love nature. The park was huge, but because of the storm the week earlier most of the trees had fallen. They hadn't even had time to clean the trees that had fallen on the walking paths! It was still gorgeous and it was a beautiful day. I then made my way back to the city center and to the castle. 

The castle sits atop a hill overlooking the city center. I purchased a ticket to go up in the elevator to see the castle. The elevator takes you up the side of this hill and to the castle. I loved the scenery and the castle itself. When I imagined a castle as a child this is what I pictured. We got to go in the tower and through a museum that had mostly history about Slovenia and replicas of artifacts you can see in another museum in Ljubljana. 

After the castle I got kebab and window shopped all the way to the bus station where we had to go home. 

I was sad to leave this wonderful place. Here are some pictures of my adventures in Slovenia. 

Triple bridge

Dragon bridge 

Cream slice in Lake Bled

Lake Bled

Lake Bled

Balkan dinner at Das Ist Valter

Huge tree that fell in the park. I guess it had to be more than 300 years old!

Tree down on the path

In the elevator to the castle

The castle

View of Ljubljana from the castle tower

That's all about my trip to Slovenia! Also if anyone is interested in what music I am currently loving, I have become somewhat obsessed with 4 songs. I am currently playing them on repeat in on the train.

- Happy by Pharrell (this song makes me happy)

- Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Teló (this is a Portuguese song)

- Papaoutai by Stromae (a French song I heard at a bar)

- Let It Go by Idena Menzel (from the wonderful movie, Frozen)

- Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo (it is just so catchy)

Keep on the lookout for a blog post about my trip to Rome!

Ciao,

Carolyn

The City of Lights: Paris!

Bonjour!

Wow! Two weekends ago I spend four amazing days in Paris. I had such an unbelievable time in the City of Lights that I don't even know how to begin this blog post. I guess chronologically is the best way.

I would also like to apologize for taking so long with this post. You all were too anxious to hear about my trip!

Disclaimer: This post may be long because I did so much during my trip. If you would like just a short recap please scroll down to the pictures at the end of the post!

Day One (Wednesday):

We left Paderno del Grappa on Wednesday evening to the Venice Marco Polo airport. Our flight went smoothly and we landed in Paris at 10:30 in the evening. Although we were already half asleep we managed to figure out the trains to get to our hostel. Once we arrived to our hostel (in the Monmartre neighborhood, near Moulin Rouge), we checked in and immediately fell asleep. 

Day Two (Thursday):

The next morning we ate the free breakfast at our hostel and were off. We had signed up for a free walking tour through Sandemans. Although it was slightly rainy we enjoyed the tour! We saw all the main sights of Paris: the Latin Quarter, Notre Dame, the Lock Bridge, the Louvre, the Tuleries, and a view of the Eiffel Tower, Obelisk, and Arc de Triomphe. 

At the end of the tour, we were lead to a nearby restaurant that had a special for the tour participants. It was a 12€ two course meal. We had the option of either an appetizer and entree or an entree and dessert. I chose the appetizer and entree. For the appetizer course we had the option between French onion soup and escargot. I chose escargot because I wanted to try something new and also because I have somewhat of a food aversion to French onion soup. The escargot came out and we were taught how to use the strange utensils. One was for holding the shell the other for stabbing the snail and pulling it out. After some trouble getting the snail out, I actually really enjoyed the dish! The snail was buttery and had some parsley flavoring, the texture was not bad and I think pulling it out of the shell is fun. I would definitely get it again. For the second course we had the option between a beef dish and a croque monsieur. I got the beef, which was fantastic, but I also stole a couple bites of my friends croque monsieur. I think the beef was better but the croque monsieur was not bad! Croque monsieur is another French staple. It is basically a toasted ham and cheese sandwich but with a lot of cheese. In Italy they also have a staple toasted ham and cheese sandwich they call simply, toast. 

After eating we headed over to the Louvre. I had heard from friends and our tour guide that there is enough art in the Louvre to be there for weeks. This fact was a bit overwhelming for me. I had downloaded the Rick Steve's audio tour of the Louvre before I had left to give myself some direction in the giant museum. I actually enjoyed the Louvre and I think having the audio tour helped. I wish we had spent more time in the Louvre because I didn't get a chance to even see some exhibits! It was cool to view paintings and sculptures I has only seen pictures of before. My least favorite exhibit in the museum was the Italian section. I think this was because I have seen so much Italian art this trip and there isn't much variation. I had to keep going through all the same Italian paintings to get to the Mona Lisa. Many people say the Mona Lisa is underwhelming, but I actually found her to be one of my favorite paintings in the museum, maybe because I had low expectations. I had heard that because her face is painted the way it is you see the emotion that you want to see. I found that to be true and extremely captivating. 

Unfortunately, the Louvre closed while we were there so we had to leave. After that we kind of wandered around the city as the sun set. We spent some time by the lock bridge and looked for a crêpes place for dinner. We ended up eating Nutella banana crêpes in the Latin Quarter and walking toward the Bastille. We spent an hour or so around the Bastille and went back to the neighborhood where our hostel was. After more walking we stopped into an adorable bar with all French speaking people for a glass of wine and some cheese. It was delicious and I enjoyed the conversation and atmosphere. Then we headed back for a nights sleep. 

Day Three (Friday):

The next morning we woke up pretty early to head to Versailles. We took the metro and the RER train to Versailles. I was especially excited for this excursion because I really enjoyed learning about Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. We made it to the palace and it was the one day of the weekend that was gorgeous outside! We really lucked out. The castle is huge and absolutely gorgeous. I opted to do the free audio tour as I walked through all the rooms, which ended up being a good decision. I loved hearing about all the artwork and history in every room. My two favorite rooms were the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedroom. The Hall of Mirrors was one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever been in. I also found it to be extremely cool to be in a place I had only read about in history books. I tried to imagine The Treaty of Versailles being signed in this room as I walked through (it was somewhat challenging due to all of the tourists but I tried nonetheless). I also loved Marie Antoinette's room because it was extremely ornate and customized for Marie herself (there were portraits of her family on the walls). The audio tour pointed out the door Marie fled through to escape the mob outside. 

After walking through the palace we headed out to the gardens. The gardens of Versailles are phenomenal. I kind of wish I worked there just so I could tend these fantastic gardens. My only complaint is that I wish I had visited during the summertime. All the statues were covered, some gardens closed and no flowers blooming. Some sections of the gardens almost reminded me of Alice in Wonderland gardens with cooky swirls and designs. After lots of pictures, walking and viewing the Grand Trianon I was pooped. It was almost perfect timing because I needed to catch a train to meet my boyfriend, Dakota in the city! 

Yes, my boyfriend came to visit in Paris! He is studying abroad in Lille, France which is a short train ride away. After a little miscommunication we found each other in the City of Lights. After dropping his clothes off we headed to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is extremely beautiful at night. Dakota and I strolled the park then found a restaurant with a view of the tower. As I was waiting for my steak and fries the Eiffel Tower started to sparkle! I learned the tower sparkles on the hour for five minutes. It was a very special moment.

After a delicious (but somewhat overpriced) meal we headed back to the Bastille area because we had signed up for a pub crawl through the same company that did our free walking tour. We took the metro and enjoyed some music from two men playing accordion singing and began our pub crawl! It was a lot of fun to see different bars in Paris and to meet other travelers. We then went to bed for a long day ahead of us.

Day Four (Saturday):

We woke up and immediately headed over to the Catacombes. This activity was one of my top activities to do in Paris. We got there right when it opened but there was still a line! They only let 20 people in at a time so the line slowly moved and we eventually got in. We walked down a spiral staircase and through creepy, dark, wet, chilly tunnels. Then eventually began to see bones! There were thousands of bones all lined up in very neat lines and patterns. It was interesting because although there was a long line outside once we got down to the tunnels we didn't see another living soul for some very long stretches.. It added to the somewhat chilling experience. I highly recommend going to the catacombs when you visit Paris. 

After the catacombs we headed straight to Museé d'Orsay. I was excited about this museum because of its impressionists collection, it was finally a museum of artists I knew and wanted to see (also no traditional Italian Christian pieces!). The museum itself is a piece of art, there was glass and details everywhere I looked. My favorite parts of the museum are the Van Gogh exhibit and the Impressionists exhibit. Van Gogh is my favorite artist. It was an amazing experience to view his original paintings, especially the ones I had used as a wallpaper for my computer! The Impressionist exhibit was also amazing. It was filled with Monet and Degas. I had read a book as a child about Degas and the statue of a dancer he had made and I saw the statue in real life! I got really excited about the statue! This museum is my favorite in all of Europe so far!

After the museum we tried to find a place to eat. Everything was overpriced around the museum, so we walked for a while but then it randomly started to pour rain! We immediately forgot about the prices and headed into the next restaurant. It ended up being a good decision! The prices were reasonable and we got a lot of food for the amount we spent. I had a Croque Madame, similar to the Corque Monsieur but with a fried egg on top, with a salad.

After eating we took the metro to see Saint Chapelle church. This church is almost all stained glass, and even through all the French Revolutions the glass is still original! We went inside and it was so beautiful. I feel like all the pictures I took do not give it justice. This is one of my favorite churches I have visited in Europe so far.

We then made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Élysées. This is probably one of my favorite shopping avenues I have been to, partially because not everything was crazy expensive and the view of the Arc de Triomphe is fantastic. After shopping for a bit we decided to reward ourselves with macaroons and pastries! I had a pistachio macaroon and Dakota had two smaller pastries (which I tried bites of... So delicious!). Dakota came out of shopping empty handed but I purchased a Longchamp bag. I had been wanting one in the states for over a year and they're 40$ cheaper in Europe and the brand is from Paris so I feel like it was meant to be. 

For some reason they had a Ferris wheel set up in near the obelisk. Our tour guide the days before said it was for an event and would be taken down within the week. Dakota and I decided to jump at the opportunity to ride it while it was here to see the views of Paris. Not many of my pictures turned out but the ride was magical being able to see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Obelisk as the sun set. 

After we were so pooped from our busy day we ended up eating burgers (my first burger in Europe!) at the hostel bar. This ended up being a fantastic decision. They had so many drink specials, huge delicious burgers, and the Hawkeye basketball game on TV! We watched Iowa beat Michigan while sipping on 2 for 1 drinks. Although this was not very French of us we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Unfortunately the next day we both had to leave. We said our goodbyes and soon I was on a flight back to Venice! I never thought of myself as a Paris girl but this trip was an eye opener for me. I loved Paris more than I thought I would and I think I'll be back sometime in my lifetime.

I went to Slovenia last weekend but that blog post won't be up for a few days, and this weekend I am headed to Rome to visit my good friend Maggie! Life is good but extremely busy!

Pictures

View of Notre Dame from our free walking tour

The Lock Bridge from our free walking tour

It was crazy how empty it was by the Lourve during our walking tour!! Maybe it was because it was raining (see umbrella). I think it is cool that you can see the reflection of the pyramid in the water on the ground!

I finally got the snail out of the shell (after trying multiple times). So delicious!

Me and Mona Lisa. I am listening to the Rick Steve's Audio Tour of The Lourve if you're wondering why I have headphones in my ears.

Inside the Louvre.

Me pretending to be a can-can girl in front of Moulin Rouge.

Wine and cheese night at a local bar! It was nice to not hear any English and enjoy some French wine after a long day.

The golden gate in front of Versailles!

Me in the Hall of Mirrors.

Only a small portion of the gardens behind the Versailles Palace, but these swirls reminded me of Alice in Wonderland!

The Eiffel Tower at night.

Dakota and I posing in front of the Eiffel Tower for a selfie.

Steak and fries for dinner!

Twinkling Eiffel Tower! Kind of a bad picture because of the reflections on the window. 

In the Catacombes! I was a little nervous to get so close to the skulls but I couldn't resist the photo opportunity.

Close up skull.

Saint Chapelle church

Arc de Triomphe with Dakota

Macaroon at Champ Élysées. I got the Pistachio flavor.

Ferris Wheel!

Ferris Wheel pictures

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for a blog post about Slovenia and Rome!

Ciao,

Carolyn